In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV infections are more prevalent and doctors scarcer than anywhere else in the world. With a lack of medical professionals, Mitchell Besser enlisted the help of his patients to create mothers2mothers — an extraordinary network of HIV-positive women whose support for each other is changing and saving lives.

How can mothers with HIV avoid passing it to their kids? In South Africa, Mitchell Besser tapped a new resource for healthcare: moms themselves. The program he started, mothers2mothers, trains new mothers to educate and support other moms.